THE INDWELLING OF THE SPIRIT

 

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.  (Romans 8:9 NKJV)

It is of the utmost importance to know that we have been born from above of the incorruptible seed of God's implanted nature. How can we be quite sure that we are the sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty? The beloved Apostle gives us many assurances in the first Epistle of John. If we are the children of God we shall be content to be unknown of the world.  Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. (1 John 3:1 NKJV) The leaders and rulers of society may view us with contempt, as they did our Lord, but we shall refuse to enter into any alliance with the children of the world, and shall lose our taste for the things that used to appeal to us.

We shall be very sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, as Philip was when he tore himself away from the revival in Samaria, to go to a lonely spot in the desert, and there await the arrival of the Ethiopian statesman. There was no hesitation in his obedience to the command: "Arise, and go toward the south.., and he arose and went" (Acts 8:26-40). Are we being obedient to the call and command of our Lord to tell the good tidings of the gospel to those who have never heard? Or do we make all sorts of excuses for our apathy?

We shall certainly love the brethren.  We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. (1 John 3:14). We may begin by loving them with our strength, and by sacrificing ourselves on their behalf, but we shall pass through the different phases of self-sacrifice until at last we come to love with the Spirit of Christ. We shall be very sensitive for the honor of our Lord, and when men speak ill of Him we shall confirm our discipleship and devotion.

We shall be very sensitive about sin. Directly we have offended against the law of love, we shall be restless and unhappy until we have confessed and been forgiven and cleansed. We shall hasten at once to our merciful and faithful High Priest that He may remove the stain. An old Puritan once said that a sow and a sheep might fall into the same muddy pen; the one would wallow in it, whilst the other would never rest until it was released and cleaned up!

PRAYER

O God, make me increasingly conscious of the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit; may He witness with my spirit that in spite of all my sins and shortcomings, I am still Your child.  In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

God's Daily Promise

Promise #100:
The good things that I have planned for you are too many to count.

Psalm 40:5 (WEB)
Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done,
and your thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to you.
If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.